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13 articles from 2009

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Screen Queens: Hollywood Does AIDS

21 November 2009 6:49 PM, PST | FilmExperience | See recent FilmExperience news »

Hi everyone, MattCanada here with another weekly dose of gay cinema. This week we're looking at Philadelphia, the Oscar winning courtroom drama, essentially the defining Hollywood response to the AIDS epidemic.

I first saw this film as a kid. I must have been about seven when I watched it with my parents and it was definitely my, and probably many other people's, introduction to AIDS. For me it continues to shape how I think about the virus, the stigma, and the epidemic. Longtime Companion opened a few years earlier but this was the first mainstream prestige film to deal with AIDS and homophobia. Having two big stars in Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington must have seemed like a big step for Hollywood. All of this is well and good, but rewatching the film for the first time in over a decade, I had serious problems with its filmic construction and especially its politics. »

- CanadaMatt

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Breaking Down Pedro Almodóvar

19 November 2009 9:08 AM, PST | ifc.com | See recent IFC news »

The pop art films of Spain's Pedro Almodóvar have certain trademark qualities (a vibrant, glossy look, melodrama blended with irreverent comedy and high camp, queer-friendly hedonism) that have made him an international critics' darling for over two decades. His filmography is peppered with modern arthouse classics like "Law of Desire," "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," "All About My Mother," "Talk to Her" and "Bad Education," but, even having turned 60 this year, Almodóvar has no intention of slowing down.

A follow-up to 2006's "Volver," his fourth collaboration with Penélope Cruz is "Broken Embraces," a romantic, neo-noirish drama that flashes forward and back between the '90s and today. Lluís Homar stars as a middle-aged screenwriter who gave up his career as a filmmaker once a car accident rendered him blind. Through an outrageous series of recalled memories and time-fractured reveals, the shaggy tale of his affair with Cruz's »

- Aaron Hillis

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'Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans,' 'Broken Embraces,' 'Red Cliff' In This Week's unLimited

17 November 2009 1:00 PM, PST | MTV Movies Blog | See recent MTV Movies Blog news »

Despite the record-breaking advance ticket sales for "New Moon," I think there may be one or two of you interested in seeing something other than the "Twilight" sequel this weekend. And if neither the sports drama "The Blind Side" nor the animated "Planet 51" is your cup of tea, either, there's also the indie hit "Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire," which expands wider this Friday. Or, if you live in a major city, there are a number of new films opening in limited release that also look appealing. As always with unLimited's picks, if you wan to see one of the following titles and it isn't scheduled for your neck of the woods, contact your local theater and request it be booked there.

"Red Cliff"

What it is: Epic war film set in Ancient China, directed by legendary action auteur John Woo ("Face/Off") and starring Tony Leung ("Lust, »

- Christopher Campbell

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New on DVD: Almodóvar, "High School Musical" and shirtless dudes!

3 November 2009 2:09 PM, PST | AfterElton.com | See recent AfterElton.com news »

Like celebrity deaths, good things come in threes — at least they do this week on DVD.

Read on for more!

The films of gay Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar go in and out of print on DVD without any apparent rhyme or reason, so if you want to include his work in your home library, it's best to snap them up whenever you can.

This week sees three of his finest films getting new DVD releases. The Oscar-winning All About My Mother (newly remastered) still ranks as my very favorite of his movies, brilliantly mixing his gifts for outrageous comedy and tear-jerking melodrama. It's a "women's picture" in the very best sense.

Almodóvar's breakthrough in this country was the hysterical farce Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown — there's been talk for some time about turning this into a stage musical, so now's the perfect time to catch up with »

- alonsoduralde

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Susannah Straughan, London Correspondent

3 November 2009 2:05 PM, PST | SoundOnSight | See recent SoundOnSight news »

Susannah negotiated those difficult teenage years in front of a black and white TV, in the company of the inimitable Humphrey Bogart. There were many long, smoke-filled nights, punctuated by sardonic dialogue and the sound of some B-grade villain expiring in a hail of bullets. After studying law, Susannah embarked on a career in book and magazine publishing that has so far failed to make her rich or famous. But thanks to a nine-year stint at Radio Times magazine she feels certain that she has already met more than her fair share of film geeks and fan-boys. A team lunch last Christmas with film critic and football fan Barry Norman was a highlight. Movie heaven: Sunset Boulevard, The Lady Eve, The Big Sleep, La Confidential, The Graduate, Chinatown, All about My Mother. I could go on . . . Movie hell: awards shows; anything directed by, sanctioned by, or starring Mel Gibson Email: sustraug@googlemail. »

- Ricky

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Domestic “Broken Embraces” Trailer

14 October 2009 1:35 PM, PDT | Filmofilia | See recent Filmofilia news »

Sony Pictures Classic has released domestic trailer for Pedro Almodovar’s latest film “Broken Embraces” (”Los abrazos rotos“).

“Broken Embraces” synopsis: A man writes, lives and loves in darkness. Fourteen years before, he was in a brutal car crash on the island of Lanzarote. In the accident, he not only lost his sight, he also lost Lena, the love of his life.

This man uses two names: Harry Caine, a playful pseudonym with which he signs his literary works, stories and scripts, and Mateo Blanco, his real name, with which he lives and signs the film he directs. After the accident, Mateo Blanco reduces himself to his pseudonym, Harry Caine. If he can’t direct films he can only survive with the idea that Mateo Blanco died on Lanzarote with his beloved Lena. In the present day, Harry Caine lives thanks to the scripts he writes and to the help »

- Allan Ford

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Academy Award’s foreign-language film submissions

8 October 2009 3:26 AM, PDT | SoundOnSight | See recent SoundOnSight news »

The October 1st deadline for all countries wanting into the Academy Award's foreign-language film category has come and gone. According to IndieWIRE [1], The United Kingdom, which has predominantly submitted Welsh films over the years (if submitting at all), has surprisingly chosen the documentary Afghan Star as its 2009 submission for the Academy Awards. The last time the country received a nomination in this category was in 1999, when Paul Morrison's Welsh and Yiddish Solomon and Gaenor lost out to Pedro Almodovar's All About My Mother. Synopsis After 30 years of war and Taliban rule, pop Idol has come to Afghanistan. Millions are watching the TV series 'Afghan Star' and voting for their favorite singers by mobile phone. For many this is their first encounter with democracy. This timely film follows the dramatic stories of four contestants as they risk all to become the nation's favorite singer. But will they »

- Ricky

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Tiff ‘09: Broken Embraces

24 September 2009 8:25 PM, PDT | SoundOnSight | See recent SoundOnSight news »

Abrazos Ratos (Broken Embraces) Directed by Pedro Almodovar After Live Flesh, All About My Mother and Volver, director Pedro Almodóvar and his muse Penelope Cruz unite for a fourth time with Broken Embraces, a film about film-making. Broken Embraces is a film within a film that jumps back and forth between past and present and evokes genres as far apart as noir and melodrama. Sugar coated on top are enough film references waiting to be spotted that is sure to put a smile on Quentin Tarantino's face. Only Almodovar's references are at times too easily recognizable, art imitating art, and in case you didn't catch it the first time, he's sure to have his characters name off each movie title for you. In one of the more interesting subplots, a young filmmaker stalks his stepmother (Penelope Cruz), hoping to expose her affair. His character is a caricature of Carl Boehm's Peeping Tom, »

- Ricky

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Tiff ‘09: Broken Embraces

16 September 2009 9:53 PM, PDT | SoundOnSight | See recent SoundOnSight news »

Abrazos Ratos (Broken Embraces) Directed by Pedro Almodovar After Live Flesh, All About My Mother and Volver, director Pedro Almodóvar and his muse Penelope Cruz unite for a fourth time with Broken Embraces, a film about film-making. Broken Embraces is a film within a film that jumps back and forth between past and present and evokes genres as far apart as noir and melodrama. Sugar coated on top are enough film references waiting to be spotted that is sure to put a smile on Quentin Tarantino's face. Only Almodovar's references are at times too easily recognizable, art imitating art, and in case you didn't catch it the first time, he's sure to have his characters name off each movie title for you. In one of the more interesting subplots, a young filmmaker stalks his stepmother (Penelope Cruz), hoping to expose her affair. His character is a caricature of Carl Boehm's Peeping Tom, »

- Ricky

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'EastEnders' three-hander pulls in 6.8m

19 August 2009 3:12 PM, PDT | digitalspy | See recent digitalspy news »

EastEnders' near-three-hander was seen by just over 6.8m, overnight figures show. The episode, which saw Ronnie, Bianca and Dot reach respective crossroads in their lives, logged 6.82m (35%) at 7.30pm. BBC Three's 10pm repeat added a further 828k (4.8%). Meanwhile, 5.51m (30.6%) tuned in to Emmerdale, during which Pollard asked Val for a divorce. Doctors' outing, titled 'All About My Mother', put in 1.64m (22.9%) (more) »

- By Kris Green

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Orange of the Week: Art-House Films Made into Video Games (Antichrist)

21 June 2009 | ioncinema | See recent ioncinema news »

-   I'm totally game for this idea. Thanks to some digging on slashfilm.com's part (read the entire low-down here), it appears that gamers will get to play a video game version of a Cannes film from a serious auteur. Yes folks, Lars von Trier's Antichrist will get the video console treatment. For those who are interested, the game picks up where Willem Dafoe's character finishes off – and all this time I thought the last frame of the film announced a certain doom for his character. If Lars is reading...I'd love to play The Idiots.Slashfilm reports that "Eden, as the game will be called, will be a first-person thriller/adventure game that invites players to confront their fears. Willem Dafoe will reportedly reprise his role in voice-over, though the game will not replicate the film, picking up afterward instead."  The Orange of the Week goes to »

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Cannes 2009: The Wrap-Up

25 May 2009 | ioncinema | See recent ioncinema news »

- With no run away, break out titles as in the previous years (Babel, Volver, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Ncfom, Silent Light, The Class, Gomorrah, Synecdoche, New York, Waltz with Bashir) Cannes 2009 might not have been a bust, but it was disappointing to see so many mediocre films make it into the main comp, which could only signify that: Venice and Tiff might have vintage festival editions ahead (we'll be in Toronto covering that festival). It would be unfair to totally dis the festival as there were plenty of other films worth mentioning. At the top of my list is Andrea Arnold's second film, Fish Tank (which shared the 3rd place prize with Thirst). [Update: As an added bonus, check out the video feature (below) which was recorded with Alex Billington from Firstshowing.net. We go over some of the highlights of the fest.] Fish Tank features a delicious performance from a non-actor Katie Jarvis who was picked from obscurity (she was apparently in a heated, public argument with her boyfriend and I'm not sure if it »

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Almodóvar Teases

22 February 2009 9:22 AM, PST | FilmExperience | See recent FilmExperience news »

The low ranking of Almodóvar's new film Broken Embraces in our "We Can't Wait" series caused bitter complaints from those who feel, like myself, that he's the best director the cinema has going. But never fear. I'll be following the Spaniard closely this year. Pedro Watch again you know.

Here is the teaser for Broken Embraces. Since it's a teaser it only has 30 seconds to sell you. It's mostly concentrating on spreading the notion that the film is about a doomed unstable romance and that its visually interesting (no surprise). Sold. It also wants to remind you how beautiful Penélope Cruz looks when her hair is all over the place in the Mediterranean style of leading ladies.

Synopsis read (to me) a little too 'thriller' or bizarre for Oscar play -- and Spain doesn't always submit Pedro anyway -- but you never know. Two readers Daniel and Ziyad also inform »

- NATHANIEL R

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2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999

13 articles from 2009

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